Name: Mikhail Svetlanov
Into: Design and art
Origin: Russia

Mikhail Svetlanov, 34, is a talented graphic designer. In 1990 his family moved from Russia to Australia, and the Svetlanovs spent seven long years in Sydney. There he had to take any job he was offered, but nothing could shift his focus from the arts to anything less creative and exciting. In the end, Svetlanov graduated from the Sydney College of the Arts. His early career saw him developing his skills and experience at print design when he and his father, a famous artist, founded a bilingual newspaper called the Horizon.
Svetlanov came back to Moscow five years ago. Curious to compare the quality of education in Russia and Australia, Svetlanov entered and successfully graduated from the Moscow Polygraphic University. "It wasn’t a complete waste of time," he later confessed.
His ambition is to be on the cutting edge of design, and Moscow is a good place to fulfill the craziest ideas that most designers can only dream of.
Svetlanov is someone who can slave over design around the clock, without eating or drinking. This week he’s working on a fabulous project: A huge catalogue, which is due to come out soon. When I arrived at his place Svetlanov looked exhausted. "Don’t you think you need a break?!" I exclaimed. But for Svetlanov it’s OK to be permanently absorbed in his work or in his creative thoughts: One can only envy Svetlanov’s dedication.

I bet you’ve made up your mind to become a graphic designer because of your father?
You’re absolutely right. My dad is the biggest influence in my life. It’s not because I’m his son and he’s my father that I’m saying this, but Maxim Svetlanov is a very talented painter and an indefatigable workaholic. Hundreds of his works were exhibited all over the world not only because of his signature style, colors and technique, but I think because his paintings possess some sort of a warm ambience that puts you in the mood for love, peace and friendship. So his creative enthusiasm was so infectious that in childhood I quite naturally responded to his impulses and finally followed in his footsteps, having chosen graphic design as my major.

Does it make a difference for an artist where you live, in Australia, France or Russia?
Well, I think it doesn’t make a huge difference, especially if we’re talking about artistic geniuses. As for me, comparing Australia and Russia, I can say that my Sydney period wasn’t a high spot in my life. Of course, it did give me a sense of trying to take root in another country, of starting everything from scratch to see what you can or can’t do under the given circumstances. Anyway, artists should only rely on their consciousness and positive attitude to life.

Did you have any language barrier when you first came to Australia?
I didn’t have any language problems at all. Although I didn’t have a good command of English, I could always grasp the right meaning of the word thanks to my intuition and simply looking at people, watching them gesturing, smiling and expressing their intentions through movements. Being a designer helps me interpret people’s desires more or less correctly. When I studied at college in Sydney, I enriched my experience not only in photography, painting, colored print and lithography, but my knowledge of English as well.

You travel a lot. Which city gave you the strongest creative impulse?
I can’t name just one. Each city, each country I visited, gave me something I could later use in my creative work. I like Europe: Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary. I used to make sketches of all the places I visited, in order to be able to restore my geographical impressions whenever I wanted or needed them. I still keep my pictures of Rome, a city that left a very gloomy imprint on my memory, of breathtakingly beautiful Venis and Prague, of Dusseldorf and Koln. As fate would have it, I’ve finally moved to Moscow, where I hope I’ll start working as an independent designer one day.